Shankar's concert @ Internet

By Hindustan Times

Mumbai, July 16 -- After years of consolidating his position as a music composer in Bollywood, 'Breathless...' singer Shankar Mahadevan is now reaching out to a new section of the audience. The artiste will perform his popular numbers from forthcoming Bollywood films and independent albums at a concert on July 19. The venue? The Internet.

"What is better than everyone all over the world being able to watch a concert together?" says Mahadevan, visibly excited about tapping into a new fan base, which is bigger than any other he has performed for. "It is amazing to see the audience suddenly grow exponentially. I will perform in a studio with a live band and the platform is interesting for me, as I've never done this before."

Mahadevan, however, will not be the only artiste who will utilise this platform. The organisers plan to have more webcerts of this kind. And Mahadevan too is game. "I would love to plan more webcerts. I want to do many more like this. This is just the beginning," he adds.

The line-up includes tracks from Zoya Akhtar's recently released Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Rock On!! (2008), Karthik Calling Karthik (2010) and Taare Zameen Par (2007) among others. Nokia Smartnights WebCert in association with www.artistaloud.com has organised Mahadevan's debut digital live performance, which will be streamed on July 19 at 5 pm. Concert on your phone

The 40-minute long concert will not be limited to the Internet. For users of Nokia smartphones, an OVI application will allow them to access the concert on their phones while on the move. Accepting that the Internet speeds in India do not help the cause of online concerts, Mahadevan adds, "As it gets better, these concepts will get more and more popular." This is the second season of the webcert, as it was sanctioned following the reported success of the first.